Forty environmental NGOs launched their newest campaign on reducing carbon emission, dubbed the “C+ initiative,” on Monday in Beijing, stating their resolution to go beyond the national goal set for carbon intensity reduction.
“Climate change is one of the most serious challenges facing humanity. However, the current commitments from governments in international negotiations fall for short of dealing with the problem,” Yang Fuqiang, from the Natural Resource Defense Council and a major initiator of the campaign, said at the launch conference, referring to the relatively low targets that have been discussed in leading up to the upcoming Durban Climate Change Summit at the end of this year.
According to China’s commitments made at the Copenhagen climate change summit in 2009, China will reduce its level of carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent by 2020.
Yang said that the NGOs who have expressed interest in changing their positions on climate change are merely following international trends, while having public support and social involvement on this campaign will help the government to both reach and exceed its goal. Only through this way, can the NGOs speak out with their original research and activities.
NGOs like the World Wildlife Fund, the Shanshui Conservation Center, and the Beijing-based Friends of Nature will help coordinate on various levels, including those of corporate, community, village, campus, and individual, to assist in the reduction of carbon emissions.
The campaign has just entered its first phase, which involves attracting individuals and organizations both domestically and overseas. Different projects will be monitored and evaluated by third-party organizations in 2015, and will ultimately offer solutions and suggestions to climate change challenges in China.
Li Xueyu, from the Beijing-based Innovation Center of Energy and Technology (also with a sister base in the US), which will facilitate the monitoring and verification of C+ programs, said on Monday that her center will develop a computer platform which will make the objectives of C+ initiative measurable.